Dinner time.
"Master,....I ... Wanted to talk to you about something."
Ash said in a neutral respectful tone.
"Hnmm....what is it ash? Speak up."
Koushiro responded with an kind smile.
Ash continued -
"...you see..., next year -I will probably leave this island to travel on seas with zoro.But the thing is....we would need a good ship for travelling and for that we need money.....so I wanted to go do some chores on an nearby island to earn some money for travel expanses."
".....you see.. zoro is still training.so,I didn't want to disturb him."
"I wanted to ask for your permission"
Ash gazed onto koushiro's eyes with calm intensity -
Koushiro smiled and said after thinking for few breaths-
" I see.....with your skills it would be enough to protect yourself, alright.I'll allow it."
"I remember that a merchant ship is going to leave for shells town tomorrow, I will talk with the captain of ship . Be ready at sunrise."
Ash gave a grateful node and said-
" Thankyou master "
Koushiro smiled and waved him off.
__________________
Morning time at harbour
"So,.....you are the lad koushiro said about travelling to the next island ayy ? "
A gruffy middle aged man of over 200cm tall with round fat belly and thin legs was smiling and staring at him with bearded face .
'one piece physique is truly strange man.like what the hell is even this build boy ? How the hell does one need to live his life to look like this!'
Ash screamed in amazement and bewilderment in his mind.ofcourse he did not show it outward.with a smile and respectful nod he introduced himself.
"I am Ashborn sir,you can call me ash if you find it convenient on tongue."
The captain of merchant ship laughed.
"Gahahaha- Ash lad ! Alright.you get on the board with us . I'll drop you at the shells town.though I must ask is that sword for show or you can actually wield it ? "
Ash smiled and responed-
" I have mastered the sword captain.if you want, I can even help you protect the ship if danger arises."
Merchant captain chuckled in skeptuality .
"Gahahaha- good lad.very fiery are we....haha..and youthful too.! Alright then , I'll be counting on your protection if needed.and I'll even remove your travel expanses if you did protect us on sea."
"Gahahaha ...go and settle in"
" Simon " -he called a sailor who had thin body and was around few years older then Ash.
"See this lad a place on ship.we'll drop him at next stop ."
After saying that the captain went onto checking packages of travel supplie for next town.as it was his buisness.
"Aye aye captain margret~"
Simon beckoned Ash to follow him with the gesture of his hand.
At ship.
" This room will be your's till next stop.There will be announcement for food.settle in .....it will take a day to reach shells town "
Ash noded.
The sailor left him to settle in for himself.
Dressed in black loosely fitted cargo pants with brown leather shoes.A plain white baggy t-shirt with a long black coat which was fluttering in sea breeze Ash was standing at deck of merchant ship watching shimotsuki village shrink over the horizon.
'I will need to gather around a minimum of 50 million berries and a one mast ship which should be sturdier atleast like going merry so that we can reach at water 7.there we can upgrade or even build a good ship .'
Ash mused his thoughts as the sea breeze carrassed his face with a gentle kiss.
' should I try hunting and looting pirates like zoro did in the orignal series?'
Time kept passing as ash was thinking about the future.
Sometime during midday.
"Well quite an uneventful ride it is"
Ash spoke in a lazy tone while poking the steak on his plate with an fork.
"Hoh...oye kid . Are ya really that bored that ya are wishing for something to happen ?"
Captain Margret of merchant ship raised an eyebrow and asked with quite curiousity.
Ash spoke in a fed up tone -
"Well.....I mean ... it's not tha-
-Tang,tang,tang,tang,tang,tang-
He was interrupted by a loud bell sound.
Then suddenly caos erupted on the merchant ship-
"Alert everybody! Pirates are comming.!!"
"Run"
"Pirates"
"Hide"
"Get out of my way idiot"
Caos spread everywhere.
"Don't panic ye fools ! Load the cannon we have and fire it at them if they come close !
Ship gaurds ! Take out yer weapons.
I want everyone on the deck now ! "
Captain Margret shouted and barked orders at everyone .The caos calmed down a little bit the tension in the air never died.
" Are ya happy now kid ? We've got goddamn pirates raiding our ship for yer intertainment! "
Margret scoffed at ash.
" I remember ye said that if needed ya will help us protect the ship- were those words of yer's all talk no bite or are ye scared now that things got real ?"
Ash met captain Margret s gazed and said-
" A man's words are absolute! ...I stand by my words ship captain.you will have my protection."
"Well, we'll see that in about a minute then!"
Margret said in a gruffy voice clearly not believing in him as he walked towards the deck with Ash following behind him.
" Alright boys ! Tell'em what we are made of "
" Aye aye captain~"
Came a shout from sailors and gaurds.
" Cannon loaded " a sailor shouted.
" Wait for my orders!"
Margret said in a gruffy voice.
" Which pirate group are we facing right now lads ? "
A sailor responded while scanning the pirate ship with binoculars.
" Aye captain! ....these are 'thorn pirates' of east blue with their leader 'Brandy thorn ' with a bounty of 5 million berries on his head.These are elite pirates of east blue captain!"
Sailor kept sweating heavily as he rambled about the enemy.
" Dammit ! What rotten luck ! To run into such strong bunch."
Captain Margret cursed while sweating though not as much as the rest of the sailors.
As the tension grew Margret finally spoke
" Alright! Go and prepare a chest of gold and some supplie, let's negotiate if we can't win ."
Meanwhile, Ash was sighing while thinking-'what elites! Garp literally wiped out every damn strong pirate group from east blue!these guys are bottom fodders who were probably hiding all the while.'
~sigh~
"Well not like these guys are going to understand me ."
He walked upto the captain and said
.
..
.
.
____________to be continued ____________